Deadpool Opening Day Beats X-Men: Days of Future Past Overseas

After much hype and a killer marketing campaign to get fans excited, the Deadpool solo vehicle is finally here. The good news for moviegoers is that director Tim Miller has delivered a product that lives up to the promise (read our review), with the film even earning a Certified Fresh ranking from review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. Subverting the superhero genre, many are impressed with Deadpool‘s sense of humor and fun.

The critical response all but guarantees that the movie will become a box office hit for 20th Century Fox, with some projections suggesting it could set a new opening weekend record for the month of February. As the studio waits for the domestic numbers to come in, they’re sure to enjoy the news that Deadpool is already a hit overseas, outperforming the last installment of the X-Men franchise to boot.

THR is reporting that Deadpool earned $12 million from seven international markets during its debut on Wednesday, February 10. It made the most money in England, pulling $3.4 million in U.K. theaters. That is the fifth-highest opening day for a Marvel title in the country, even though it sports a restrictive 15 rating. Deadpool also scored the second-highest IMAX opening in the territory, behind only the James Bond film Spectre.

Elsewhere around the globe, Deadpool grossed $1.8 million in France. The British and French opening numbers are significantly higher than the debut of 2014’s X-Men Days of Future Past, 142 percent and 106 percent, respectively. In addition, Deadpool broke records in Taiwan ($1.4 million), earned the biggest opening for an R-rated film in the Philippines ($357,000), scored the top debut for a superhero movie in Belgium ($270,000), and set a new opening day mark for February in Australia ($2.1 million). This is a great start that, coupled with word-of-mouth, illustrates Fox was wise to green light the film. #WhyNotDeadpool indeed.

Deadpool‘s performance internationally is a pleasant surprise, considering that the film was not released in 3D (higher surcharges) and has the equivalent of the R rating in many countries. Recently, the film was banned in China due to its explicit content, which seemed like a bad omen for its commercial prospects. China has become a vital market for Hollywood productions in the past few years, but it looks like Deadpool will not be negatively impacted by the censoring. Its production budget (which doesn’t include marketing costs) was only $58 million, so the project is well on its way to turning a nice profit for the studio, especially since there aren’t many other high-profile films opening for a while.

These developments make Deadpool 2 a no-brainer, and Fox is already forging ahead on the sequel, with a script being worked on. It’s hard not to feel happy for star Ryan Reynolds and the Deadpool team. They spent years begging the studio to give them the go-ahead, and ended up crafting something that’s delighting hardcore fans and casual moviegoers alike. This is just the beginning of Deadpool‘s box office dominance and the dawn of a new franchise for Fox. Bring on Cable!

And if you haven’t seen Deadpool yet, T.J. Miller has a message for you:

Deadpool is now in theaters, followed by X-Men: Apocalypse on May 27, 2016; Gambit sometime in 2017; Wolverine 3 on March 3, 2017; and an unannounced X-Men film on July 13, 2018. The New Mutants is also in development.